Gene Smith says “the expectations have to be consistent with reality” for Jake Diebler’s first year but he believes Ohio State’s new basketball coach will “do a really, really good job.”
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GENE SMITH BELIEVES JAKE DIEBLER WILL “DO A REALLY, REALLY GOOD JOB,” SAYS STAFF, PORTAL AND RECRUITING ARE KEY
Even though Ross Bjork spearheaded the Buckeyes’ basketball coaching search and ultimately hired Jake Diebler, Gene Smith still feels a stake in the native Ohioan’s outcome.
“I do have some ownership in it,” Smith told
Eleven Warriors on last week’s Real Pod Wednesdays. “I do feel I have some personal pride in it.”
Smith’s formula for Diebler’s success isn’t a revelatory one – he boiled it down to staff hires, transfer portal savvy and recruiting – but it’s nonetheless one that he’ll be vested in as he watches the team’s progression from his new home in Arizona following his retirement as Ohio State’s athletic director after this week.
“He's doing a great job,” Smith said. “This year is going to be a challenging year. It's year one from that perspective. So the expectations have to be consistent with reality. But I think he's going to do a really, really good job. And I'm looking forward to seeing him in Vegas on November 4th.
I'll be at that game when they play Texas.”
Smith may not have hired Diebler full-time, but he was the man who pulled the trigger on firing former head coach Chris Holtmann midseason on Feb. 14 and promoting Diebler, then Holtmann’s top assistant, to an interim head coaching role.
As most reading this will know, Diebler earned the full-time gig in many ways through his performance after that appointment. Ohio State closed its regular season on a 6-2 tear that gave it an outside shot at the NCAA Tournament, shocking then-No. 2 Purdue and earning a bye through the first round of the Big Ten Tournament after a 3-9 start to conference play.
The Buckeyes fell three points short against No. 13 Illinois in the quarterfinals of the league tourney and missed the Big Dance as a result. A run to the quarterfinals of the NIT followed, however, ending with a 79-77 loss to Georgia.
“I did advise on (the hire) and, obviously, appointed him the interim that gave him the platform to (have) a résumé builder, so to speak, and an interview opportunity,” Smith said. “And he did exceptionally well. Not just the wins that we were fortunate to have. The Purdue win was huge, the Michigan State win was huge. But how he handled the team and the energy and the engagement with the fans, I mean, all those things are critical.”
What followed in the offseason was a smidge of transfer portal chaos. Two of Ohio State’s starters from last season, Roddy Gayle Jr. and Felix Okpara, left for Michigan and Tennessee, respectively. Key bench pieces in Scotty Middleton and Zed Key left for Seton Hall and Dayton, while Bowen Hardman hit the road upstate to Akron.
But Smith was impressed with Diebler’s response. Ohio State brought in a pair of five-star prospects from the recruiting class of 2023 in forwards Aaron Bradshaw and Sean Stewart, reacquired the services of star guard Meechie Johnson Jr. and grabbed a versatile wing in Micah Parrish.
“I think he's done a great job in the portal,” Smith said. “We were fortunate enough to hold on to a few guys that were, I think, a part of our future. I did not anticipate that we would lose Roddy Gayle. That was a loss, and then of course Felix. I was hopeful that we could retain those two. But that's the new world we're in, particularly with basketball. I think (the portal) is more impactful there just because of the numbers. But he's got a great roster, great kids in our culture.”
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